With only finals left to play we look back at a strong British showing at the 2014 World Club Championships…Women’s

Iceni finish 11th overall with a decisive win over U de Cologne and sustained and confirmed their European dominance throughout the week. Whilst the highest placed European team, they will be frustrated to not have made it into quarter finals, and also by their results against North American competition with scorelines that do not represent the potential of this team.Win 17 – 6 vs. U. de. Cologne (GER) Nice Bristols had a tough week with only 3 wins against Rogue (AUS), Brilliance (RUS), and YAKA (FRA) to finish in 22nd. Whilst they missed out on top 16, they will be happy to have improved on their seeding by 2 and will undoubtedly come home with a huge amount of international experience that puts their squad in good stead for years to come.Win 13 – 11 vs. YAKA (FRA)Lose 10 – 16 vs. E6 (SWE)

LMS also beat their seeding to move from 30th to 24th. Whilst they may be gutted to lose out in sudden death to CUSB shout in bracket play, they will be happy with big wins over Rogue (AUS), Brilliance (RUS) and Nice Bristols.Lose 9 – 17 vs. E6 (SWE)

Lose 7 – 12 vs. YAKA (FRA)

Open

Clapham secure 5th place in dramatic style with Rob Schumacher getting the game winning block in sudden death against Furious George. Whilst the team will be rightly disappointed about not making Semi-finals, this is a landmark Worlds campaign for Clapham as they suffer a single defeat by one point to the defending World Champions, as well as a first (and convincing) victory over Buzz Bullets. They are the highest finisher of all European teams.

Win 17 – 12 vs. Buzz Bullets (JPN) Win 17 – 16 vs. Furious George (CAN)EMO found difficulty in their 9-16 bracket before closing the tournament on a sudden death win to finish 15th. The young Midlands squad have shown their worth at this tournament and undeniably stepped up once again with victories against Freespeed and Juggernaut. They smashed their seeding in a very competitive division and will be looking to continue their late surge up the rankings of British and European ultimate as the season continues.

Lose 11 – 17 vs. Ragnarok (DEN)Win 17 – 16 vs. Juggernaut (AUS)

Chevron beat Freespeed in their final game to finish 17th, also in dramatic fashion with Marky ‘JL’ Fandango taking the final point of the tournament with a layout callahan against the European Silver Medallists. This team will be disappointed to lose out on a top 16 finish, but show promise and grit to finish the tournament with only two losses at the hands of Juggernaut, and Clapham.Win 16 – 14 vs. Tchac (FRA)

Win 16 – 13 vs. Freespeed (SUI)

Ranelagh had a brutal tournament to say the least with only two victories late in the tournament over FAB and in their final game against Mor ho! to finish 43rd. As tough as it is to face defeat on such a stage, the Dubliners will only gain from the lessons they learned in Lecco. Check out A Ranelagh Player to get a closer look at their Worlds campaign. Also took Spirit in the Open Division! Congrats!

Lose 17 – 11 vs. Gigolo (UKR)

Win 17 – 7 vs. Mor ho! (CZE)Mixed

Cambridge are the Cinderella team of the competition. Despite a pre-tournament friendly win against Bear Cavalry the team went to Lecco seemingly as GB’s second best mixed team. This was emphatically overturned by a pre-quarter meeting between the two teams, which Cambridge one in sudden death to proceed to the top 8 bracket, and knock out their British rivals in the process. Going on to finish 6th with only North American competition above them, the midlands team will be rightly delighted with their showing in Lecco.Win 16 – 11 vs. Hanabi (JPN)

Lose 13 – 7 vs. Union (CAN)

Bear Cavalry fell short in the cruellest way at the hands of domestic rivals, finishing 12th. Their final game loss by one point to a team they had previously beaten will be tough to take, but the Warwick alumni team will nevertheless be proud of showing themselves a serious force capable of competing on the world stage.Lose 13 – 17 vs. Wildcard (USA)

Lose 14 – 15 vs. Gecko (CAN) finishing 12th.

RGS missed their seeding by one after two losses on the home straight to finish 28th. The squad showed their quality as they challenged finalists Polar Bears (USA) early in the tournament, but were unable to creep up into the 17-24 bracket.Lose 14 – 15 vs. Grandmaster Flash (POL) Lose 15 – 17 vs. Catchup Graz (AUT)

Black Eagles notched a win over RGS and bared their teeth in opening game against eventual 4th place finishers Team Fisher Price (CAN). Their finish at 37th with two decisive victories suggest a much higher placement could have been within their grasps.Win 16 – 12 vs. China United Ultimate Party (PRC) Win 17 – 12 vs. Outsiderz (CZE)

Women’s Masters

ROBOT Finished 5th overall, narrowly missing out on the championship bracket. Their victory over eventual Bronze medallists Golden Girls (GER) suggests this finish to be deceptive in a division which, perhaps other than the North American finalists, was very closely matched.

BAF achieved strong wins as well as two sudden death losses first to UFO Masters (FIN) and then in their last game to Ultimate Vibration (FRA). They finish their tough campaign in12th. Lose 13 – 17 vs. Wolpertinger (GER) Lose 14 – 15 vs. Ultimate Vibration (FRA)

Keeping you up to date with how the UK teams get on today…Women’sAll still to play for with more games from power pools tomorrow.IceniWin 13 – 11 vs. Cosmic Girls (RUS)Loss 6 -15 vs. Showdown (USA)Nice BristolsWin 13 – 8 vs. Brilliance (RUS)LMSWin 15 – 10 vs. Rogue (AUS)OpenFamiliar faces as Clapham and Chevron find themselves in the same power pool, where both will be looking to overcome Melbourne’s Juggernaut as well as each other.Clapham – Undefeated, up into top 16 where they face EMO.Win 15 – 12 vs. Juggernaut (AUS)Win 15 – 11 vs. Chevron (UK)

For those less Twitter-literate, keeping you up to date with how the UK teams get on today in Lecco. Scores will be updated as they come in, so keep an eye out…Today’s play follows the Sunday schedule with only minor changes.Women’sIceni (8th)Win 15 – 4 vs. Prague Devils (CZE, 23rd)Nice Bristols (24th) – Coming third in pool puts them in lower power pools.Lose 15 – 2 vs. Traffic (CAN, 7th) LMS Ultimate (30th)Win 12 – 7 vs. Brilliance (RUS, 14th)

OpenNEWS: Potential schedule change going forward. Top 2 from each pool will enter into 8 power pools of 3 teams. Top 2 of the power pools go to top 16 play-offs. Important implication is that some groups will be 1st-1st-2nd seeds, and some will be 1st-2nd-2nd; substantial considering that only the top 2 proceed from power pools to final 16. Please note – this change is yet to be confirmed.Clapham (8th) – Top the pool 3 – 0 going into power pools.

R.G.S getting horizontal on the first day of play. Photo courtesy of Kevin Leclaire/Ultiphotos.

Women’s MastersThe Brits finish the day 1 and 1, and in 4th position in the pool round robin.ROBOT Lose 8 – 15 vs. Welldone (FIN)Win 15 – 9 vs. Primal (AUS)MastersZimmer stay strong with two wins, and BAF end with a 1 and 1 for the first day.Zimmer (4th)Win 15 – 5 vs. MM (MEX, 24th)Win 15 – 11 vs. Vigi (JPN, 9th)BAF (8th)Win 15 – 10 vs. Mokonui (NZL, 20th)Lose 11 – 15 vs. Flood (CAN, 13th)Excitement ElsewhereRumour mill: Davide is taken away from a universe point loss to Bad Skid by a WFDF rep – TRUTH: Davide was simply taken aside by his team during half time to calm down a little.Viksjöfors push Furious George to 15-13, narrowly losing.Texas Showdown lose out to Japan’s HUCK.Cambridge beat the American Mixed team Wildcard to mix up their pool.Some pitches are very boggy but weather was beautiful today. Schedule has changed a number of times in the day for tomorrows play but minimal effect for UK teams.

One of the entrance roads into the venue, a little muddy. Photo courtesy of Kevin Leclaire/Ultiphotos.

The World Club Championships in Lecco is what Bear Cavalry has existed for since the club of mainly Warwick alumni players was formed more than four years ago.

With a 95 per cent retention rate since that first full season together, there has been little need for adding extra players to a tight-knit group, many of whom have played together at university, in the 2011 GB mixed team and at clubs such as Fire of London and Ka-Pow.

But for their final path to World’s they have added two missing jigsaws of the puzzle in the form of two Ka-Pow players – Pedro Vargas, the Portuguese handler, and the versatile Matt Hodgson.

Both were hand-picked by the Bears captain, Dave Tyler, as individuals who would easily adjust to Bears’ particular style of offense and hard man defense.

Playing and Coaching Style

That style of play is built around a pivot-based offence, characterised by cynical opponents as a hierarchical offence because it is designed around Joe Thompson and Dave Tyler, the two pivots around which the rest of the offence runs.

“Calling it a hierarchical offence is disingenuous, because outside of the top two the hierarchy isn’t well defined,” Dave explains.

It is an approach targeted for mixed ultimate and designed to bring out the best of the teams’ star players.

“It often looks like quite a naive V stack, but it’s a bit more complex than that – the stack is just somewhere to keep people out of the way until a pivot player gets the disc. It’s not an offence that would work for most teams – and definitely not in open – it’s evolved over time as the way to get the best out of our best players.”

When observing their style of play, you may come to the conclusion that Bear’s strategy has remained unchanged from their university days, but while the principles remain the same – man defence and a vertical stack offence – the adjustments made by the captaincy have filtered in over the years.

On first glance the offence style may look basic, but the adjustments made have highlighted the strengths of the squad and have been drilled in so thoroughly that the team has confidence in the strategy and in the reliability of the team to execute it.

Bears are hitting World’s after a hugely successful domestic season, dominating all three mixed tours and remaining unbeaten until earlier this month, when they suffered a surprise loss to Cambridge in a friendly.

The defeat was brushed aside by Bears players, who pointed to the fact they were missing four of their key players. “We needed to experience what defeat tasted like so we know never to taste it again,” said a particularly defiant Bear. And it was on Cambridge’s hallowed home turf, of course, so no confidence has been lost from within the very close unit of players.

Domination has not been a new experience for Bears however, having won mixed tour in 2011 and 2012, winning nationals in 2012 and 2013 and the European Club Championships in Bordeaux last year.

They continued to impress on the international stage this season, winning the Golden Elephant trophy at Windmill Windup in Amsterdam. Winning on the domestic and European scene is one thing; world domination is another level altogether, and captain Dave is realistic when it comes to setting a goal in Lecco.

Predictions

He said it was difficult to predict how a club like Bears will fare against non-European teams, pointing to the example of Venezuela under-23s at last year’s World Championships to show how dangerous it is to guess the strength of teams from more unfamiliar countries.

As with the Open and Women’s divisions, the pinnacle of European mixed clubs come from the UK. But unlike Clapham and Iceni, who have both recently returned home from facing North America’s elite at the US Open, Bear Cavalry have never played a team that competes outside of Europe, so adjustments will have to be made based on filmed footage and adapting throughout the tournament.

When pushed for a prediction – and Dave was the only one of the UK mixed teams’ captains who was brave enough to give a prediction, a reflection of his straightforward, honest approach to leadership – he told TheShowGame that a realistic goal for the team was a finishing position between seventh and 12th place.

“I’d say it’s a huge success in results if we come in the top eight,” he says. “I’d like us to come up against one of the top four teams and prove that our systems work. We won’t win, simply because we aren’t individually good enough, but I want to see whether what we’ve built as a club holds its own to the top of our abilities as individuals,” he adds.

Lecco is the last hurrah for Bear Cavalry. Like retiring footballers, it is always best to go out on top, leaving a positive legacy to remember the team by. Barring world domination, there is little left to achieve for the club, having risen from winning student nationals to European champions and what the team hopes will be a top eight finish at World’s.

The best crop of players in the team are likely to focus on GB for the next couple of years and while Bear Cavalry might make the odd reappearance at tournaments at home and abroad, it will no longer be a club with such a serious and focused set of objectives.

Whatever you make of their style of play and approach to the game, you cannot doubt the commitment of the players to a set program over such a length of time and the impressive journey they have made all the way from Freshers’ year at Warwick University.

And that is that. Keep you eyes open for the SkyD and tSG coverage of WUCC.